STEEL CARS. 



SUNDAY REST. 



659 



cars runs as high, in a few instances, as that of 

 the steel car, although the average capacity of 

 wooden cars is less. 



The advantages of steel cars over wooden cars 

 are many. They are practically indestructible in 

 case of tire. They are stronger, and therefore can 

 withstand shocks in a collision which ordinarily 

 destroys a wooden car. It is generally acknowl- 

 edged that thirty years is a very conservative 

 estimate for the life of a steel car, while long ex- 



repairs of a steel car. The average annual cost 

 of repairing a wooden car is from $35 to $40, while 

 the average cost of repairing a steel car per an- 

 num is from $10 to $15. 



Steel cars for export are generally shipped in 

 sections, and on reaching their destinations are as- 

 sembled under the supervision of a foreman sent 

 out by the builders. The rapid growth of the 

 steel-car industry can readily be seen by the fol- 

 lowing figures: In 1900 the total number of all- 



A STEEL CAR SELF-CLEARIXG HOPPER. 



perience has shown that the average life of a 

 wooden car is about fifteen years, at the end of 

 which time the car has practically been rebuilt. 

 The scrap of a retired steel car is always market- 

 able. Wood scrap is valueless except as fuel for 

 boilers. The approximate cost of a wooden car 

 of 80,000 pounds capacity is about $525, while a 

 steel car of the same carrying capacity would cost 

 about $810. But the difference in the first cost 

 of a steel car is soon made up by the difference 

 in cost of carrying dead weight and in the saving 

 in repairs. 



The difference in weight between a number of 

 80,000 pounds capacity wooden cars and steel cars, 

 recently figured on, showed the wooden car to 

 weigh 18.2 tons and the steel car 16.1 tons. Put- 

 ting the cost for hauling per ton-mile at 3 mills, 

 shows a saving per ton-mile of (5.3 mills per car- 

 mile in favor of the steel car. The average freight- 

 car mileage on the Pennsylvania Railroad system 

 last year was 10,000 miles per car. Multiplying 

 this by 6.3 mills, would show an annual saving 

 of $63 per car in favor of the steel car. 



As published in advance sheets of the report 

 of the Interstate Commerce Commission for 1900, 

 the total number of freight cars of all kinds in 

 use in the United States on June 30, 1 899, was 

 1,295,510, not including 46.556 cars which were 

 used in private service of the railroads. If these 

 cars were all steel, the estimated saving on the 

 basis of 80,000 pounds carrying capacity would be 

 a sum far in excess of $60,000,000, but not all 

 cars are of 80.000 pounds capacity. Another great 

 saving, as previously intimated, is in the cost of 



steel cars turned out was 14,464, of these 447 being 

 for export. In 1899 the total number of steel cars 

 turned out was 10,500, while in 1898 but 2,700 

 were built. In addition to this, 4,140 wooden 

 freight cars for domestic use had steel under- 

 frames. The accompanying illustration shows a 

 representative type of steel car now in use. 



The largest makers of steel cars are the Pressed 

 Steel Car Company of Pittsburg, Pa., their shops 

 having a capacity of 100 cars a day. The Sterling- 

 worth Railroad Supply Company, of Easton, Pa., 

 makes what is known as the rolled-steel car. In 

 this construction the body of the car is made up of 

 'steel channels bound by malleable castings at the 

 corners and riveted at intermediate points through- 

 out their length. Other makers of steel cars are 

 the Cambria Steel Company, Johnstown, Pa.; the 

 American Car and Foundry Company, St. Louis; 

 and the National Rolled Steel Car Company, of 

 Pittsburg, Pa. The Goodwin Car Company, of 

 New York, build steel dump cars. These are 

 used for ballast, ore, etc. 



SUNDAY BEST, INTERNATIONAL CON- 

 GUESS ON. An International Congress on Sun- 

 day Rest was held at Paris, France, in connection 

 with the Universal Exposition, Oct. 9 to 12, and 

 was attended by men from different countries rep- 

 resenting labor and Sunday rest associations, manu- 

 facturing and commercial industries, and other cli- 

 entages. M. N. R. Berrenger, Senator of France, 

 presided. Papers were read on different phases of 

 the Sunday question as related to commerce, rail- 

 roads, manufacturing, and the state. The experi- 

 ment of the complete closing of the Magasin du 



